In Loving Memory of Mavis "Viki" Johnson

We are deeply saddened to announce that Mavis “Viki” Johnson, died peacefully at her home, surrounded by family, on September 19, 2025. She was 96.

Her memorial service on October 25, 2025 can be viewed at https://bit.ly/viki-johnson-m…

Mavis Corinne Vik was born August 14, 1929 in Scribner, Nebraska to Henry George Vik, a power lineman and supervisor, and homemaker Caroline Mathilde (Livdahl). Both parents were children of Norwegian immigrants and Montana homesteaders.

Viki grew up in Scribner and Oakland, Nebraska. At Oakland High School, she was a cheerleader, Pep Club president, Y Teens president, yearbook artist, and superior public speaker. She was the last surviving member of Oakland's class of 1947.

She married Harold Arden Johnson in Oakland, Nebraska, on August 13, 1950. Their daughters Carla and Becky “Becca” were born in 1952 and 1955, and sons Mark and Eric in 1962 and 1965. From 1962-1966, Viki relished her role as pastor's wife and choir director at the LCA parish in Gurley, Nebraska, after Harold completed seminary and was ordained as a Lutheran minister.

In 1966, the family moved to Brownsburg, Indiana, where Harold became head of chaplaincy at Winona Hospital in Indianapolis. Viki and Harold were founding members of Messiah Lutheran Church in Brownsburg. Beyond homemaking and teaching Sunday School, Viki championed local causes, such as organizing Brownsburg's first recycling drives and helping drive the Ku Klux Klan from town through letters to the newspaper.

Viki earned her Bachelor's in Liberal Arts from Indiana University in 1978 and worked as a psychiatric aide at Cummins Mental Health Center. She later taught Communications and Public Speaking at IUPUI. In 1984, she directed the Indiana Campaign for a Nuclear Freeze and led Hoosiers to Washington DC to lobby Congress.

In 1995, Viki and Harold moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, becoming active members of Larimer County PFLAG and several faith communities. After Harold's death in 2013, Viki moved to Park Lane Towers, where she was widely loved, and later joined Plymouth United Church of Christ.

While we are broken-hearted at losing her, Viki’s death was just as she wanted. She died at home, with family at her bedside, just a month after celebrating a “perfect” 96th birthday. Viki lived her own truth, and her top priority was love. One close friend described her as “a woman of universal friendliness.” Virtually everyone who met her was won over by her open heart, kind smile, quick wit, and generous humor.

Viki was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, her brother Gregor, and her sister Ione. She is survived by her sister Norma Brown of Fort Collins, CO; her daughters Carla Jan Johnson and Becca Dawn Johnson and son-in-law Richard Marmer of Tucson, AZ; her son Mark Andrew Johnson and daughter-in-law Carolina Barillas-Mury of Silver Spring, MD; her son Eric Paul Johnson of Fort Collins, CO and Tarun Devrani of Bareilly, India; her grandchildren Mikkel Fishman (wife Line Silseth) living abroad, and Zephyr Johnson of Silver Spring, MD; and her great-grandchild Eldin Silseth-Fishman.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Larimer County Food Bank or Habitat for Humanity, International, two favorites of the dozens of charities that Viki supported in her life. Donations can be made at her memorial site, https://everloved.com/life-of…

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